Safety-pins



H. MITCHELL SAFETY-PINS July 7, 1959 Filed June 25. 1956 A Ma S. 79642;@

7 Arran/very United 1fiafff SAFETY-PINS Harold Mitchell, Birmingham, England, assigner to George Goodman Limited, Birmingham, IEngland, a British company 'Application June 25, 1956, Serial No. 593,597

Claims priority, application Great Britain July 30, 1955 2 Claims. (Cl. 24--158) This invention relates to improvements in safety-pins.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved safety-pin having simple and easily operated means for locking the pin in the closed position so that there is no risk of the pin being opened accidentally and causing injury to a child when the pin is used for fastening a diaper or other garment for a baby or young child.

The usual safety-pin is formed from a length of resilient wire bent to form two substantially parallel limbs joined at one end by a single turn coil, the free end of one limb being lixed lin a cap having in one or each side an opening to receive the end of the other limb which is pointed, the cap forming a guard for the point.

According to the invention, there is provided on a safety-pin means movable with respect to the cap on the one limb and adapted in one position to prevent the disengagement of the other limb from the cap, and in another position to allow such disengagement.

In a convenient practical construction there is mounted on the cap of a safety-pin a sheath which is slidable on the 'cap in the direction of the length of the pin and which, when in its innermost posi-tion, closes the opening or openings in the cap so that the pin cannot be opened. To open the pin the sheath must be slid outwards far enough to uncover the opening or openings and allow the point to be freed from the cap.

The sheath is made a sutiiciently tight sliding t on the cap to ensure that it cannot be moved accidentally.

The sheath may be completely removable but preferably it is slidably anchored to the cap in any convenient manner. For example, if the sheath is of sheet metal a portion of it on each side at its inner end may be pinched inwardly to engage on each side of the portion of the cap which is closed onto the xed limb of the pin.

Two examples of safety-pins embodying the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows one example in the open position;

Figure 2 shows the same pin closed;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3 3 in Figure 2, to a larger scale;

Figure 4 shows a second example in the open position;

Figure 5 shows the same pin closed; and

Figure 6 is a section on the line 6 6 in Figure 4, to a larger scale.

Referring first to the example shown in Figures 1 to 3, the safety-pin has the usual two limbs 1 and 2 formed by bending a length of resilient wire, with a single turn coil 3 of the wire forming a resilient hinge between them. The end of the limb 1 is pointed at 4 to pass Y 2,893,091 Patented July 7, 1959 ICC, I

through the fabric to be secured and the limb 2 carries on its end a cap 5 which is formed with a tongue 6 projecting into a U-section recess defined by wings 7 formed in the opposite side of the cap. The cap is turned in over the web portion of the wire Whereas the wings 7 are parallel. The transition of the cap edges from the vu'ngs to the turned-in portion ofthe cap is visible at 5 in Fig. 3. To close the pin, the limb 1 is brought towards the limb 2 until the point 4 can be inserted between one or other of the wings 7 and the tongue 6 which is of less thickness than the pin wire, whereupon the point is allowed to rest resiliently in the base of the U-section recess in the cap, which thus forms a protective guard for the point.

The pin as so far described, could be opened by inward pressure on the limb 1 to carry the point 4 past the tongue 6 `to one side or the other and thus out of the cap 5. To prevent this there is now provided, according to the invention, a sheet metal guarding sheath 8 which fits over the cap 5 and has a sliding engagement with it. The sheath is a sufficiently tight t on the cap to ensure that it is unlikely to be moved unintentionally by a Ichild playing with it. The inner end portions 9 of the sheath are pinched towards each other so that the distance between them is smaller than the thickness of the cap where it is wrapped around the limb 2. Owing thereto, the portions 9 limit the outward movement of the sheath and prevent it falling ott and becoming lost. They may also fric'tionally engage between them the base of the tongue -6 to provide the necessary stiffness of movement. In Figure 1 the sheath 8 is sho'wn in its outermost position, allowing free movement of the limb 1 in the usual way, but when the sheath is snapped inwards to cover completely the cap 5, as shown in Figure 2, it prevents the limb 1 from coming out.

The example shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6 is similar and corresponding parts are numbered the same as those of the first example. There is, however, the additional feature of projections 10 on the sheath 8, the projections being pinched inwards similarly to the portions 9. When the sheath is snapped over the cap 5, these projections form definite stops preventing movement of the limb 1 past the tongue -6, and in addition form positive stops preventing the removal of the sheath from the cap.

It will be seen that the invention is equally applicable to curved or straight safety-pins and in either case provides effective means preventing inadvertent release of the pin.

I claim:

l. A safety pin comprising a cap and first and second limbs, said limbs being secured together at one end of each, said cap being secured to the other end of said first limb and the other end of said second limb being pointed to engage said cap, said cap being formed of sheet metal shaped to define a tongue and a U-secton recess between two wings, said tongue extending from said first limb and into said recess and being of a thickness smaller than that of said limbs, whereby to form two gaps between said tongue and wings, through either of which gaps the pointed end of said second limb can enter said recess, the relationship between said first and second limbs being such that the pointed end of said second limb is resiliently urged to a position beyond said recess remote from said rst limb, a sheath, said sheath being formed of sheet metal shaped to fit over said cap and have a limited sliding movement with respect to said cap,`por tions on said sheath being pinched inwardly towards each other, said inwardly pinched portions `friotionally engaging the base of said tongue and serving to limit outward sliding movement of said sheath with respect to said cap, said sheath serving, in its innermost position, to block each of said gaps and prevent passage therethrough of said pointed end.

2. A safety pin as set forth in claim 1, wherein said sheath includes inward projections, said inward projections extending from said wings and being spaced from each other a distance less than the thickness of the cap where it is secured to said first limb, whereby to limit j the movement ofA said sheath by engagement with said cap and said inward projections serving, in the innermost positionv of said sheath, to form positive stops blocking each of said gaps.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,546,697 Young July 21, 1925 2,261,424 Watson Nov. 4, 1941 2,668,996 Kumml Feb. 16, 1954 2,772,462 Trachsler Dec. 4, 1956 

